


Murderous Intent

by Wyvernchild



Category: Original Work
Genre: Assassin - Freeform, Bondage, F/M, Force-Feeding, Forced Prostitution, Gun Kink, Gun Violence, Human Trafficking, M/M, Master/Pet, Minor Character Death, Multi, Non-Consensual Somnophilia, Psychological Torture, Somnophilia, Stalking, Torture, Violence, shock collar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2018-04-06 14:19:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4225011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wyvernchild/pseuds/Wyvernchild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron has been following his hit for awhile now. Just as he's about to move in on the job something goes wrong and he finds out just why an unassuming college professor had a price on his head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time uploading something like this even though I've been a writer for a rather long time. Thank you for taking the time to read this and hang with me as this develops!

This mark was going to be easy. Aaron had some doubts when he first saw the picture of his target. The candid shot of him showed him the teacher in his typical vest and slacks. All of the pictures that had been gathered for the assassin were of this nature. A part of him even wondered if he ever did anything with his life that required him to be out of the stereotypical professor garb. Even after tracking him for a while he wondered just why this man was even a target.

After the first week Aaron had Carver’s schedule down to a T. He would leave home, go to the coffee shop that was a couple streets down and order a hazelnut latte and sit with the morning paper for exactly twenty-five minutes. He even had the pattern of how Carver drank his coffee down! A couple of drinks at the beginning, and tiny little tastes through the allotted time, then all at once as he folded up his paper to leave. After all that it was straight to work for hours of boring lectures that Aaron had managed to sneak in to undetected. Thankfully it seemed pretty early in the quarter and the lecture that the man taught in was rather huge. Most of the time Aaron just sat in the back and watched the other students. It gave him something to do so that wasn’t tracking every movement the older man made. Because right after class it was a quick stop at a restaurant to grab food he ordered ahead for, and straight home. There was nothing different through the week. It was even the same restaurant each time! Through what he could see through the gate of the high walled home, Carver remained in the front of the home, presumably the living room, before retreating somewhere upstairs where Aaron assumed his room was located.

Near the middle of the second week he took the time to ‘stay home’ from class and instead surveyed the house. The first day there was no activity to the home at all. No movement, no noises. No housekeepers stopping at the home. After that he snuck into the home. Aaron had a whole month before he had to report back on the hit so he wasn’t too worried about time. Sometimes the slow route was the best, especially considering how strange this hit was. He had seen those students. They were all placid and more than likely broke. They couldn’t afford his services. The likelihood of a student wanting to murder their teacher for giving them an ‘F’ was highly unlikely. There had to be something he was missing!

It was at the coffee house the next morning that he was doing his own research. Aaron pulled up all the outlets he knew up to figure out if the guy was doing something dirty but the worst thing he could find on the guy was that a student complained on their blog that he had been out for a whole week on a vacation a year ago. When the bells to the door went off his eyes flicked up to see his mark. Right on time. Lazily he closed down the windows and instead pulled up a news site, expecting a bit of relaxation before he had to get up and go again. The very last thing he had been expecting however, was the sound of the chair opposite him was being pulled back. That fucker! “I’m sorry, I’m using this table…” Carver smiled a little and set down two different donuts onto the table.

“We can share right? I brought a little peace offering.” He slid one of the plates closer to Aaron. Gingerly he pulled the plate closer and, not wanting to seem suspicions, gave a shrug and took a bite of the donut.

“Yeah, that’ll work! I’m pretty easy.” With a grin he stuck out his hand to shake Carver’s. “The name’s John. You?”

“Neil.” Aaron took note that he went by his last name, not wanting a slip of the tongue. He clasped the assassin’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “Nice to meet you. I’ve been seeing you around a lot lately, you new here?” Shit…

“Not really. My mother just recently passed away and she wanted me to spread her ashes somewhere I thought she would be happy. Thing is, she was a very fickle woman as I was growing up so I’m having a bit of a hard time finding the perfect spot, you know?” Aaron found that a death in the family was a topic that made people shy away from hearing more.

“I’m sorry… I hope you find that right spot then.”

“Heading out to an area I’ve been looking at. Still on the fence, but I’m feeling more sure about this place than others.” He shrugged a little and washed the bite of pastry down with some of his cheap coffee. “How about you? What’s your day looking like?”

“Ah, sculpting the minds of our youth and draining their parents’ saving accounts all in one blow.” Neil laughed and relaxed into his chair a bit.

The light playful banter continued for close to an hour, much longer than Neil usually stayed for. Just that alone should have triggered something in Aaron’s thoughts but he was actually enjoying his time with the other man. Hell, he even paid for a refill on his coffee so Aaron was given a reason to continue to sit there with him. Finally the conversation tapered off and they packed up their stuff, Neil’s newspaper never once opened. Aaron had planned to pack his stuff slow to allow the other man a chance to get ahead of him so it wasn’t obvious he was being followed… but the teacher appeared to have other plans. Sitting near the potted plants outside, he was sitting, facing the parking lot.

“Not quite ready to go teach? I thought it was only the students who complained about not wanting to go to school.” Aaron teased, a little startled when Neil jerked upright. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Oh no, it’s quite alright…”

“Where are you parked?” Neil gestured to the vehicle a couple spaces to his left. 

“Ah, I’m over here,” he laughed. “I’ll see you around?” The arm he raised to give a little wave was suddenly grabbed and his body was pulled back to meet Neil’s. Instinct told him to lash out, do something, anything to defend himself but the hot lips pressed against his own froze every thought in his mind.

“I-I… Th-,“ Aaron couldn’t find his voice once they pulled away, their bodies hot against each other.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I completely misread all that, didn’t I?” Neil let him go and took a tiny step back to give the younger male some breathing room. “I uh… I thought you were gay.”

For you I could be. Aaron thought briefly, usually never really liking when his work involved being intimate with the target. In this case he really truly could make an exception. “I am, that just caught me by surprise. I think I was the one reading the situation wrong,” he laughed a little, glad to see Neil’s lips turn up into a grin.

“So that was okay?” His voice was nearly a whisper as he moved in close.

“Yea-...” This time he was cut off by another kiss. Aaron’s free hand gripped Neil’s jacket sleeve as if to anchor himself by the abrupt contact. When they pulled away, the only thing the he could see was the satisfied smirk on Carver’s face.

“Look, I’m planning to eat out tonight. I’d like you to join me if you’re back at your motel and need something to do.” Aaron stared blankly as a card was drawn out from Neil’s jacket and handed to him. It didn’t matter to him that he knew the man ate dinner ‘out’ every night. What mattered was the fact that he had just been invited to eat and spend more time talking with him. At no point however had he mentioned even staying in a motel, but he hadn’t noticed Neil’s word choice.

“Yeah, sure… I’ll give you a call if I’m back in time for dinner.”

“Great. Hope to see you then John.” Neil fixed his jacket and headed back to his car and got onto the road that would take him to the university.

“Fucking hell…” Aaron murmured to himself as he watched the tail lights disappear around the corner. A part of him was thrilled that he was actually asked out on a date… but the other part of him just had to pop in a reminder that there wasn’t much more time left in this month. If he was going to do this it had to be rather quickly… Although a date or two to get close to the man… get invited into his home… Post coitus wasn’t a bad way to die in his opinion and Neil wouldn’t be in a position to protest his choice in timing.


	2. Chapter 2

Aaron waited until he was sure Neil was in his last class, expecting to just leave a voicemail. The last thing he had expected was for the teacher to answer his call.

“Hello?”

“I-It’s John, from the café earlier…” He waited for a moment until he heard the noise that signified Neil remembered him. “I’m free to go out tonight. Where did you want to meet?”

“It’s good to hear back from you. I was actually just finishing up some work from my last class and getting ready to go. There’s a nice little Italian restaurant on 4th street. It should be pretty easy to find, it’s one of the only ones over there. Want to meet there about… 7?”

“Sure, 7 sounds great!” Aaron had to hide his excitement a bit. “I’ll see you in about an hour.”

“Sounds good. Drive safely John.” There was another voice briefly before the line clicked off.

In that hour, the assassin prepared his cigarette box. A couple half cigarettes were pulled aside to reveal another small box filled with a packet of powder. It was a rudimentary drug meant simply to keep his mark asleep and keep him that way long enough to dispose of him. With non-violent marks that he could get close to, it was a preferable method. It meant a lot less begging… or fighting. The Italian place Neil mentioned was the exact same place that he went to every single night in order to pick up his food. Because of this, he knew exactly where it was.

Aaron found himself arriving at the restaurant early. Neil’s car didn’t appear to be in the lot so he rolled down the windows and fished out a real cigarette to smoke while he waited. Rather quickly he got wrapped up in his thoughts and didn’t realize the other man had pulled in until he knocked at his windows. The assassin jerked to attention and stared up at Neil, flashing him a little grin to cover up his dismay of being snuck up on.

“Glad you could make it John. Should I just meet you inside?” he gesture to the still lit cig.

“Yeah, I’ll see you in there, sorry.” Aaron gave the teacher a small nod and a smile. As soon as he retreated into the building, Aaron pulled out his disposable phone and sent a message to the client saying the job would be secured tonight. He didn’t expect anything back but received a small ‘k’. Besides the information he had been initially given, it was the first time the client ever responded to him. Aaron frowned down and it and slipped from his car and entered the building. 

After using Neil’s name, he was guided into the back and to a table where the teacher was already sitting. Just as Aaron had been in the car, he was frowning down at his phone. On the table two filled wine glasses were already set.

“Bad news?” Aaron slipped into his seat and was silently pleased to the see the other man a little surprised.

“Just a student dropping out of my class is all.” Neil seemed to notice how Aaron was staring at the wine. “I already ordered for the two of us and this wine was a suggested pairing. I hope that was okay.”

“What if I didn’t want what you ordered?” Despite wanting to woo the target, Aaron couldn’t stop himself from being a little offended at the fact that his meal was picked for him.

“Trust me, you’ll like what I ordered. Unless you hate steaks.”

Damn… Steak sounded absolutely amazing. “You’re rather cocky,” he grinned as he settled back into his seat.

“I have to be for my line of work.”

“Lots of smart ass student?”

“You could say that.

The silence spanned between them for a moment before the conversation seemed to simply pick back up from the café earlier. Any tension that had formed disappeared when their food came. Aaron found himself tripping over his words in an attempt to thank Neil for the meal. The steak was paired with some kind of pasta. Aaron had never been good at remembering all the kinds of pasta names but he at least knew it tasted amazing.

“How well do you handle your alcohol?” Neil finally asked as they finished their meal.

“Pretty poorly,” the assassin admitted, knowing he had only had two glasses of wine. Typically he would still be able to function with that amount.

“Will you be okay to drive?” The professor seemed genuinely concerned.

“I might just pick up a cab. Unless you and I…” Aaron let the sentence trail off and lifted his gaze to meet the other man’s eyes

“You want to come home with me.” Neil raised an amused brow.

“This is a date, isn’t it? I’m too old to wait on some third date rule.”

The other male chuckled and nodded his head a little. “You make quite the point there. I suppose I can open my doors… and my bed to you.”

Neil was obviously a lot less drunk than he was. As soon as he stood, Aaron nearly felt like he was going to topple. Thankfully a warm hand on his shoulder kept him stabilized enough to be guided to the horribly expensive car out front. Aaron couldn’t remember much from the car ride, nor being helped into the house.

“I only had two glasses,” he murmured to himself, obviously very confused as his cheek rubbed against the quilted bedspread.

“It might have been the roofie,” Neil growled out, finding the boy’s shoes were a lot more difficult to remove when he wasn’t getting any assistance. It took far too long for a confused noise to come from the prone body.

“Roofie?”

“Yes Aaron…” He rolled the boy over and dug around in his pockets.

“No…” The blond whined softly and tried to push the offending hands away, narrowing his eyes when he sees his cigarettes in Neil’s hands. “Those’re mine…”

“I just want one.” He pulled a couple cigarettes out and confirmed his suspicion. 

“I should sleep. Can’t think…” Aaron rolled a little, taking up a good portion of the bed before passing out completely. 

“Sounds like a good idea.” Neil waited for the squirming to die down to show the boy was truly out of it before sitting near the bed. “So this is the best they could send?” He pulled out everything in the cigarette pack and looked at each one in turn. One of his guards had noticed the boy snooping around his place the past couple weeks. It’s what clued him in to even checking the coffee shop. He hated being watched. Neil had been aware of the boy since the beginning of the week, and it made him a lot more relieved now that he had him pinpointed. Looking over at the still body brought some conflicting feelings forward. Neil shook his head and stood. No time for recalculations, he had a hired gun that needed deactivation.


	3. Chapter 3

Everything was so fuzzy. His tongue was heavy and thick in his mouth and every movement made his muscles protest. What was wrong with him? Aaron tried to bring his hand down to mop his face but his limbs didn’t want to respond. Or… maybe they were. Slowly his eyes fluttered open, the bright lighting forcing him to screw his eyes shut again. His bleary eyes took way too long to adjust so he could check out the situation he was in.

“Where am I?” His voice was almost a croak, the syllables not forming together. After another attempt at moving, Aaron flopped his head to the side to see that his wrists was bound to a wooden post. “Help!” Every time he tried to speak, all it came out as were raspy squeaks. Why were his hands tied up? His brows knitted in confusion as he tried to remember. The only thing he could recall was him and Neil getting dinner.

Heavy thudding footsteps coming from the top of the staircase silenced any kind of attempt at talking or struggling. Was it someone here to help him? Or was it the person who put him down here in the first place? For the life of him he couldn’t remember anything after dinner. Did he make it home? Did he go with Neil?

“I see you’re awake. You’ve been a bit of a thorn in my side.” Neil sauntered into the basement and settled down in a chair, the only piece of furniture in the room besides a table. “I don’t like being watched Aaron.”

It was almost like a bucket of cold water was dumped on his head. His heart pounded in his chest, nearly making its escape a couple times.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Deny, deny, deny. “My name’s John, not Aaron. You’ve got the wrong man.” 

“That’s not what these say.” He grinned as he tossed all of Aaron’s cards and IDs near his feet so he could see them. 

Shit… he had been to his motel. As his head cleared, his voice was able to get a little stronger. “Where am I?” Aaron was on edge, the vibe from the other man was incredibly threatening… not to mention the tied hands helped contribute to his anxiety.

“We are still at my home.” The teacher answered, looking a little amused. 

“I don’t know what you want from me…”

Neil’s face darkened. When a step was taken towards him, Aaron found his legs scrambling to try and get himself upright before a hand twisted into his hair. His lips opened to bare his teeth but the assassin managed to stay silent. “I really hate being lied to, almost as much as I hate being followed. Why were you following me?!” When no answer was forthcoming he frowned and slammed Aaron’s head back against the post his arms were tied to. Hearing the sharp whine gave him something to smirk about as he took a step back and wiped his palm on his pants as if the boy was dirty. “Let’s just save time and say I know why you were following me. What I truly want to know is how you planned to kill me.”

“... How did you know I was here to kill you?” The assassin’s situation was already pretty damn fucked so there was no way he could deny his attentions. 

“Someone in my position needs to be aware of all things at all times.” From the table next to him he fished out an intimidating blade. “How were you planning to kill me? Last time I’ll ask, boy.”

Any kind of noise he planned to make caught in his throat. “I was going to drug you and shoot you while you were out. It was going to be quick. Humane.”

Neil looked thoughtful for a moment before standing, brandishing the blade in his dominant hand. “You didn’t have a gun on you. I had your car and your motel checked. Remember what I said about liars?”

Any sort of pride and excitement Aaron would have felt at having one over the other man was quickly dashed as Neil advanced forward.

“Bookshelf!” It was just enough to stop his steps. “I had come into you house the other day and planted one that I could retrieve when it was time.” His voice came out in almost a squeak as he tried to kick himself back and away from the teacher. The footsteps paused and instead, Neil turned and pulled out his phone. Above their heads, Aaron was sure he could hear a vague ringing. 

“Gun hidden in the bookshelf. Bring it down, just knock.” Right away he was off and phone and turned instead to watch the assassin as he seemed to be trying to pinpoint the soft sound of footsteps above them. They waited in stiff silence until a sharp single knock was heard from above. “Don’t go anywhere.” Neil joked as he hopped up the stairs. “Good, hand me that gun.” Aaron could see a hand pass down his weapon to his mark. “Thank you. Make sure to lock the door. I’ll knock when I’m done.” 

“So Aaron. Tell me,” Neil started once he was sitting again. “What did you intend to do with me after you killed me?” He opened the chamber and peered at his bullets, frowning slightly. “It’s full. Were you worried that you wouldn’t be able to kill a drugged and unarmed man?”

“It’s in case there was any witnesses.” 

“Fair enough I suppose. I rather like my neighbors Aaron, I would have been rather upset if you shot any of them.”

“You would have been long dead to care.” The assassin growled.

Neil actually laughed a little and nodded. “You have a point there. So, what about my body? Would you have let it sit to rot? Or would you dump it in the river?”

“I have a person I call. He takes care of the clean up.” A smirk lit up on his target’s features. He picked up another phone next to him. Aaron instantly recognized it as his own. 

“Who is it under?” Aaron’s lips pressed into a tight line. “Now you’re shutting up? What? You think you can protect some garbage man?” He started clicking through the contacts. “There’s only ten people on here. I could just kill all of them. Arthur. Emma. Frank. Logan. Well, if there’s only ten people I’m sure you know them all by name.”

“You leave them out of this! None of them even know about this. None of them were a part of it!” Aaron pulled at the rough rope, ignoring the way the knots pinched and dug at his skin.

“You should have thought about this when you chose the profession you’re currently in. You’re an idiot… You know what? I’m a pretty nice guy. I’ll strike you a deal. If you pick three people I’ll spare the other seven. Give me a couple names.”

“I’m not going to pick any! I refuse to do it!” 

“Then I’ll make sure to kill each and every one right in front of you.” Neil stood up and sauntered back over to the assassin, pleased that the boy seemed to be at almost the perfect height to be level with his crotch. He twirled the gun and pulled back the hammer, looking the weapon over. 

“I’m not going to beg you to let me go… You’re not getting anything like that.” His voice wavered, betraying just how terrified of the situation he was. 

The instructor snorted. “What did I say about liars Aaron?” He crouched down so their faces were level. “I am going to ruin you,” he breathed, “Only then am I going to kill you.” With a quick movement he raised the gun and fired to the side. Aaron barely registered the crumbling of brick before the hot muzzle was pressed into his forehead. “Beg me not to scatter your brains all over my basement walls.” If it weren’t for the gun the closeness between them would have been almost intimate. 

“Just kill me. Pull the trigger.” Aaron gritted out as the pain of the heated metal started to eb. The other man made a noise of disappointment as he raised the gun and firmly pinned the assassin’s hand to the wooden post. 

“As you wish.” Neil’s laughter mingled with Aaron’s screams and frantic scrambling. “That’s going to be a nasty little wound!” The gun was placed away and Neil’s fingers dug into the open wound. “Beg for me boy! Beg for me to start!” He had to almost shout to be heard over the assassin’s desperate keening.

Wordless cries and whimperings bubbled up from Aaron the more his flesh was pulled and stretched. His whole body squirmed and kicked as if it could get him out of the situation he was in. “Fine!” He choked out. “Please… Please!” Tears streamed down his cheeks even as Neil’s fingers stilled.

“Please what?”

“Please, just make it stop. I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The professor seemed to be considering his plea, only pulling his hand back when he was satisfied with the response. “That’ll do. I’m sure you’ll be more prompt next time.” He wiped his hand on Aaron’s cheek to rid it of his blood. “Filthy.” Once it was clean enough he got up and headed back towards the stairs.

“Wa-wait!” Aaron’s voice cracked as he called out to the other man, having to hurriedly talk when he didn’t stop his stride. “Are you just going to leave me down here?! I don’t wa-” Before he could finish his statement, the lights were shut off on him and the door was slammed shut. Leaving him in complete darkness.

The rational part of Aaron’s mind told him that he had only been there for a couple minutes… and then only a couple hours. But the longer he sat alone in the darkness, the more his mind seemed to play tricks on him. All over he could practically hear the footsteps moving above him. Each time a pair made it to the stair he thought for sure he would be privy to a bit of reprieve, a bit of light to edge away the darkness. The white noise in his mind kept going over how he had been seen. He had been watching everything he was paying attention to everything he touched or had even looked at. Nothing was left out of place. Nothing had been misplaced. 

With how silent the building had been for some time, it was jarring when there was heavy pounding steps above him. Right next to the steps the sounds stopped and the door opened to let in a sliver of light. “Hey Aaron, guess who I was able to track down.” The well groomed pant legs of Neil’s suit were the first bit of him to become visible as he guided down a thick stocky man who all but carried a thrashing body. “I believe the name in your phone had been Arthur. Imagine our surprise when we called and got a woman’s voice.” The light was suddenly flicked back on and Aaron was forced to hide his face against his arm to keep from being blinded. “You should really call your friends more, they miss you quite a bit.” When the assassin could finally look he could see them tying a struggling body against the second post in the basement. 

“Is Arthur a middle name?” Neil asked as he pulled the hood off of Arty’s face. Aaron sucked in a sharp breath when he saw the fearful look on his friend’s face.

“You have the wrong person,” he ventured slowly. “Arthur is a man, not a woman. I don’t know this person.”

“Oh?” The teacher looked back and forth between the two bound figures. “Well, you were so set on killing my neighbors, so one innocent bystander wouldn’t hurt either, no?” He sauntered back over, pleased when Aaron flinched a little when his hands were reached for. “Shh, I’m not going to hurt you if you listen.” In a move that could be deemed almost gentle, Neil unbound the assassin’s wrists and helped him stand. “You are going to shoot her, and we are going to continue on with our lives.”

“Y-you wounded my gun hand.” The things he could think of were starting to quickly run out even as he was led even closer to Artemis. 

“If you can’t shoot a still target from a couple of feet away then I have no use for you and may as well put you out of your misery.” Just as quickly as Aaron was up, he was forced back down onto his knees with his arms wrenched back behind him. All struggling stopped when he felt the cold metal of a gun pressed into the back of his neck. “I’m only going to give you one chance to do as I say. If you don’t, you’re going to wish you never even heard my name.” 

A tremor passed through Aaron’s body as he was helped back up again. 

“Kill her, before I have to ask again.” Neil positioned himself behind the boy and helped him hold the gun out with it aimed directly at Artemis’ forehead. 

“I can’t do this!” His hands wavered.

“You can. Pull. The. Trigger.” Neil’s lips brushed the back of Aaron’s ear as he whispered. “3...2…” Aaron’s shoulders rolled back, his eyes wide open and his hands shaking almost so bad aiming would be a chore. As if noting this Neil slid his hands down the boy’s arms and helped him steady himself. All muffled sounds of screaming and struggle silenced from Artemis as the realization seemed to hit her all at once. “1.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a slow burn.

Almost on instinct Aaron’s finger slammed back. He sucked in a sharp breath to brace himself as the gunshot rang out once more through the enclosed space. Blood sprayed behind her, coating the post and the wall it was against. “Such a good good boy.” Neil cooed. He took that moment to pry the gun from Aaron’s fingers, lest it be turned on him when he came back to his mind. “See? That wasn’t so bad. It was just an innocent life. I’m sure you’ve killed many of those… I think you’ve earned yourself some food.” With a little bit more care, he led Aaron back to his post to tie him back up. Seeing a hole blown through the face of his friend seemed to have thoroughly stunned the younger male. “You just stay here… you’ve earned a nice hot meal.” 

When Neil went upstairs this time, he made sure the lights stayed on. 

“I have to get out of here,” he whimpered softly, kicking his legs to arch his body up enough so his teeth could work at the rope. He had no clue what the hell it was made of, but it had already irritated his wrists. Every time a noise was heard above him Aaron would stop, his body poised above the ground before frantically working himself out of his bonds. “Come on… Come on.” The time seemed to tick by so slow and it felt like he had been going at it for most of his lifetime when the ropes loosened enough for his hands to slip free. He sobbed happily, bringing his hands against his body. The assassin stilled as the elation of being free dissipated and managed to pinpoint two distinct footsteps located away from the basement door. “Here’s to hoping they didn’t lock it.” Since he had no idea how long it would be before Neil got back, he had to figure out how to get away. Talking to himself as he approached his dead friend calmed him to an extent. “Get a weapon and run. Get something to defend myself and hide…” The gun hadn’t been left behind so it forced Aaron to look towards the only new addition to the basement. 

“I’m so sorry Arty… So sorry…” Even if Neil had taken everything with him, he knew he could rely on his friend. With his good hand he searched just under the hem of her jeans to find a knife strapped to her thigh. Mercifully before leaving, Neil had tossed the black hood back over Artemis’ face making it easier for the assassin to dismiss the fact that beneath the fabric was the friend he had just killed. There was only so much he could detach himself from though and so his hands trembled as he drew his hand away from Artemis’ pants,her blade in a tight fist. Thankfully they had underestimated her, or had simply assumed that once restrained she wouldn’t be able to reach any hidden weapons anyways. “I’ll come back for you and make sure you go home.” Aaron got up onto his feet and started making his way up the stairs. So far so good. As silently as possible he headed to the door, his stomach climbing into his throat with each step closer. 

Knife in hand, Aaron finally felt brave enough to start working his way up the steps. The moment he got the door open he was able to recall back to when he had been lurking in the home and was able to orient himself in the direction of the front door. “Almost there,” he thought to himself as the door came into view. 

“Just where do you think you’re going?” A deep rumbling voice had him whirling around with the knife held threateningly between him and the man he had been previously hunting.

“I’m leaving, and if you stop me, I will kill you.” At this point he wasn’t even worried about the mission, he wanted to just get out with his life, whoever had hired him could repurpose the money towards someone else. He didn’t even want to touch it. 

“You’re not going to get far, not with my men all over the city and you with a bullet wound in your hand.” Just being reminded of the hole made it throb softly. 

“I would love to see you try,” Aaron growled, reaching behind him to fling open the front door. Another quick step behind him was all he needed to be sufficiently separated from Neil in order for him to turn and book it. 

Neil sighed and pulled out his phone. Aaron wasn’t going far with the locked gate out front. He was sure that hand of his would make it difficult to scale anything. “He ran off. Use whatever force you feel is necessary to bring him back.”

 

Immediately his mind was in overdrive even as he heard the fading rings of the teacher calling someone in. There had to be a way out. Neil didn’t seem to be chasing him, but Aaron was aware of someone else on the property. Who else would have handed that man his gun? The front gate proved to be too high of a climb, but around back there was a tree hanging over onto to the neighbor’s yard. He wanted to scream for help, but knew that was probably the worse thing he could do right now. If there was someone searching for him, he needed as much time to gain distance as possible. With only the use of one hand, Aaron struggled to pull himself up into the tree. He had to take a moment to breath once in the cover the leaves provided. So far he couldn’t see anything… Wait… just at the edge of the home, he could see a flash of dark colored fabric. Shit! He was already being searched for! There wasn’t much time to waste. As quietly as possible he dropped down to the neighbor’s yard, and waited to ensure his landing hadn’t been heard. Once satisfied, the assassin ran, making sure to avoid the street.

“What do you mean you lost him?! Are you telling me a wounded boy ran away from you?” Neil struck the brutish male who seemed to cower back even more. Ignoring the apology he turned to pace the space in front of the other man. “He’s running scared right now. We can still salvage this. He’s going to go into hiding, but he’s hurt. We’ll want to find him before he slips away for good.” His feet stopped and his arm shot out to point at his goon. “Do we still have someone watching that motel?”

 

“Yes Sir.” 

“Good… Postpone the cleaning of it, we don’t want him to think we’ve touched it. We have his wallet and money, so he’ll be in need of resources. Check the local hospitals, and have the person researching his contacts flag me down if they find anyone in the state.” When the goon hadn’t moved from his spot, Neil growled. “Now! If he escapes for good you’ll be the one in my basement!”

“That little shit…” The teacher grinned to himself once his goon had ran off to follow his orders. “I’m going to have so much fun breaking you down.” He got himself a comfortable chair and started going through Aaron’s wallet to find anything else that could help locate him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little bit more blood shed with this one. It should start picking up soon.

There were times, more often than he cared to admit, that Aaron had been called an idiot. His smarts were often tested in his line of work. In this case, he would like to think that he was doing something correctly. Even though his left hand wasn’t quite as skilled as his right, it was easy to lift some poor sap of his wallet in order to get some cash. He didn’t want to take too much in one area though. Neil was very clearly dangerous, that much was certain from how the failed assassination had gone. The only problem was, Aaron had no clue what pots Neil had his fingers in. Why exactly had a hit been made on him? Did he have politicians in his pocket and happen to piss one of them off? Was he corrupting law enforcement? Was it something even worse? Whatever it was, he had to get off his radar. His motel was as good as gone, and with the wound in his hand he was sure they would be checking even the clinics that didn’t deal in emergencies. He had to get further. 

Street vendors were definitely his friend whether they knew it or not. They always had merchandise sitting out in the open and without a keen eye trained on every little bit. Aaron was able to get ahold of a pair of mittens and a hat that would pull down over his ears, all without looking out of place in the cooling autumn air. Had it been summer he would have been rather disadvantaged when it came to trying to hide his hand. The last thing he needed was having attention drawn to him. And he knew from experience that typically a hole through a person’s body garnered plenty of that. Right now he needed the crowd to be unaware of his presence. Make himself as unassuming as possible so should someone be questioned they wouldn’t be able to pick him out of a line up. 

The moment Neil knew why he was in town was when his objective had changed. Unfortunately he didn’t get that memo until it was too late. But now, it was time to go back to his failsafes. Zackary was near state line. If he could get there before nightfall, he could get all the documents he needed to get on a plane and get to his designated safe house. At least until there was enough time for him to not seem as important. 

A couple hours before the train got to the station, Aaron had managed to give Zack a call. He had never been one to answer calls from numbers he didn’t know, so Aaron had been forced to leave a message. He only hoped his friend got it in time so it could be a quick visit. Every time someone scrutinized his face for more than a couple seconds, he felt his stomach leap into his throat. Neil’s employees could be anyone… he could have access to anything… It was only safe to assume that everyone was out to get him. It kept him on his toes and prompted him to take multiple taxis from the train station to Zack’s house. 

With all the precautions he took just to get to his destination, one oversight is what cost him. The lights to Zack’s house was on, indicating someone was home at the late hour, just as he had hoped would happen after his message. Aaron didn’t think to check the street. It was always filled with cars, lined from one end of the road to the other. He didn’t catch that his friend’s car was not among the typical vehicles. Everything that had happened to him until now made his relief of seeing the house so great, that all caution went to the wind. 

Since Aaron knew just where the key was, he didn’t hesitate to just let himself into the house. “Zack, I’m here!” He called out into the home. When he didn’t get a response, he frowned, carefully shutting the door behind him. Instead of calling out again he started slowly checking the lower rooms for sign of life. A pot was boiling on the stove, and the coffee pot had a couple cups taken out of it. If the light was any indication, it was made recently enough to still be hot. Something was very very wrong. Just as he was about to turn, a hand pressed in against the back of his neck and forced him hard against the counter.

“Thought you were free of us?” The voice that rasped over his ears wasn’t familiar, but he had a terrible feeling he knew why the man was here. “C’mere, the boss is waiting. You took your sweet time getting here, I’m sure your friend was getting worried.” Still with a hand to the back of Aaron’s neck, he guided… dragged him through the house. 

“You had better not have hurt him!” He howled, trying to wrench himself free so he can escape. His whole body felt sharp, hyper aware. His hand throbbed at the thought of seeing ‘the boss’ again. 

“Aaron, so nice of you to join us again. I’m very impressed you had the balls to try and run away from us. That wasn’t so nice. Especially after how well you had behaved.” Neil’s condescending tone reached him long before he hit the back bedroom. Tied against the chair, his friend had been gagged and restrained, much like Arty had been in Neil’s basement. Unlike Arty however, Zack seemed to be unconscious. 

“What did you do to him?!”

“He’s fine, a little hit to the back of the head never killed anyone.” Aaron’s eyes flicked to a tire iron tossed haphazardly on the bed next to their captor. As if to prove his point, Neil started slapping the cheeks of their captive until he roused enough to bob his head in an attempt to focus. “As for you… You’re not going to be as fine.” He pointed down at the bed as he stood up from in. Despite his struggling, Aaron was forced against the mattress and a second set of hands were used to pin him down. “I thought we had been doing so well together! I was really starting to like you Aaron. But, it seems like I was wrong. We’ll just have to fix that.”

“I’m not going to cooperate with you! I want out of this, now!”

“Not going to happen. I don’t take orders very well.” Neil flashed a mischievous grin as another chair was brought in so Aaron could be restrained properly. “Don’t allow for any wiggle room this time. That’s how the bastard got out before.” When the goons seemed to fumble with the knots, Neil growled and got up to take care of it himself. “We expected you to sis out and get that hand of yours checked. We had men covering hospitals and clinics all over.” He peeled off Aaron’s gloves so he could see how the wound was doing before tying Aaron’s wrists together and then to the chair. “Nice and snug?” Aaron shuddered when he could feel the heat from Neil’s breath against the side of his neck.

“So, this is what’s going to happen. I’m going to hand you a gun, just like before, and you’re going to shoot this ‘Zack’ here. Then we are taking you back to my place.”

“I’m not going to shoot him!” Aaron lunged forward in his bonds, secretly pleased when the teacher took a half step back. 

Neil laughed. “You’re going to do what I want eventually. You’ll want to do it. I’m good like that. I know how people think. How they work. It’s my job to know.” He snapped at his employee. “Wake him up. This is no time for him to be lazy. I want him awake for all of this. It’s no fun otherwise.” 

“Leave him alone!” Ignoring Aaron’s erratic thrashing, the goon started slapping Zack’s cheeks and shook him until his eyes fluttered open and stayed that way. It seemed to take him a while to understand why he couldn’t move. His gaze narrowed on to the other assassin in the room as if accusing him for getting him into this situation. Behind the gag he was already trying to garble out some kind of threat, something to relay how much shit Aaron was going to be in once they got out of this. If they got out of this. 

“What if I gave Zack here the same option?” Neil stalked over to Aaron’s friend and curled his fingers in the other man’s dark hair. “If I told you to, would you put a bullet in Aaron’s head?” Zack seemed to get quiet, his eyes still narrowed. Then he slowly nodded.

“You fucking bastard!” Aaron pushed against the ground to try and stand but ended up falling forward.

“Look at that, he even got himself in a great position for you.” With a snap, the goon was already loosening the bonds holding the gagged assassin. “Let’s do this nice and quick before your neighbors wonder what all this noise is. They seemed to be great people, even offered me some tea and cookies earlier. I wouldn’t want to mix their blood with Aaron’s here.” The teacher rubbed a hand over Zack’s shoulder and took up a stance behind him just as he had done when Aaron had been given a gun. “Right between his eyes…” 

Aaron’s frantic gaze watched the barrel of the gun. He was staring straight at death. If he hadn’t been watching it however, he would have missed the slight waver. Zack’s hands had always been almost unnaturally still. It was part of what made him so good at his job. Where some people had to get in close to ensure a clean hit, as long as he could see the target, Zack had always been able to make his kill. In mere seconds from the movement, his whole body wrenched to the side. Neil made a noise of surprise, thinking he had the assassin eating out of his palm. With his arms as free as they could be, the gun fired off to the side. Aaron could hear the body of Neil’s lackey hit the ground with a dull thud. There was no time to tell whether it was fatal or not because his attention was quickly taken up by the two remaining men wrestling to get the upper hand. 

It was almost impossible to tell who was faring better. Both had sweat beading along their foreheads. The gun fired twice more between them but Aaron couldn’t see if either were even hit by it. 

“Don’t you dare think you can ever best me!” Neil roared as he finally managed to pin Aaron’s friend. “Since you both are being little fuck wads I’ll show you just how kind I’ve been so far!” His face was contorted with rage as he landed a blow to the side of Zack’s head. Aaron assumed the hit knocked him out because Neil stood after a moment and shakily ran his hands through his hair to fix it back. Once it seems like he had calmed himself down a little he lifted Aaron and his chair so he was upright again, giving him the same kind of blow he had given Zack. “This is all your fault. Remember that as we go on from here.” He hissed.

The assassin was struggling to blink away the darkness that swam at the edges of his vision when Neil checked on his friend. “We’re going to need a clean up, and I want a backup in here now. They got Henry.” With every intention to keep an eye on the two unruly assholes, Neil shook a dark clove cigarette out of a box and lit it. Relatively soon the room was filled with the scent of the sweet smoke.

“I tolerated you lying to me about that Arthur girl but only because you took action. You did as you were told.” Neil paused for a drag, the tip of his cigarette burning bright for that moment. “I was willing to tolerate you running away too. You hadn’t hurt anything but then you refused to act.” Aaron hung his head a little to stare at the carpet. He couldn’t figure out what game Neil was playing with him.

“I’m not going to kill my friend.”

“But you already did. You killed your friend to save yourself from more pain. Do I have to hurt you every time I ask you to do something? That’s not very effective.”

This man was a lunatic. Positively crazy. There was no way he could honestly believe he was the rational mind in this situation. Aaron spit off to the side, trying to clear his mouth of blood before he could talk. “Just kill me already. I’m not going to follow your orders. I don’t belong to you and I’m not on your payroll.” Neil simply smirked. 

“I’m not going to kill you. It’s the one thing begging won’t get you.” A soft groan from Zack turned both of their attention to the ground. Just as he was kicked to lay on his back, a small group of men entered the house. Two cleared out the dead body and one stayed behind to act as the new ‘guard’. “Did you boys bring in my tool bag?”

“It’s in the hallway Sir.”

“Good, go fetch it.” While Zack was still out of it, Neil maneuvered him into a seat and tied him down. This time with no intention of taking off the bindings. “Since I’m such a great guy, I’m going to give you one last chance. Will you kill him Aaron?”

“No. Never.” A dreadful feeling filled his belly and he felt frozen in his seat.

“That’s a shame.” As soon as Aaron’s friend was awake enough to be aware of what was going on, Neil grabbed his pinky finger and slowly pulled it back, the muffled screaming of his victim hiding the crack of bone. “This is all your fault Aaron.” Neil would tell him as each finger was bent back to the breaking point. Zack’s face was red and his whole body was on edge despite how well he had been tied down. 

“Let him go! He had nothing to do with this!”

“He didn’t, until he killed one of my men.” Neil dug through the duffle bag that had been brought into the room and pulled out a heavy mallet. “Will you kill him Aaron?”

“No! You need to stop this! It’s insane! You’re insane!”

Neil clicked his tongue and snapped at his goon to come over and cover Zack’s mouth more fully. A cool fury contorted his face as he brought the mallet down once, then twice, shattering both kneecaps. Zack’s body shook and spasmed on the chair, his eyes rolling back from the pain that wracked his system.”Stop it!” Aaron screamed, making a lot of racket until Neil rolled his eyes and ordered the other assassin to finally be gagged as well. Since they were rather limited in supplies, he was stuck with a used sock stuffed deep into his mouth and tape applied around his head. 

“You’re just being a thorn in my side Aaron.” While Zack made pitiful sounds behind him, he crouched down between Aaron’s legs and forced him to stare down into his eyes. “I will give you one last chance. Will you kill him?”

Tears tracked down the assassin’s face even as he shook his head. The teacher clucked his tongue and shook his head as well. “Never say I didn’t give you a chance to show him mercy.” 

Blood was sprayed up and down the walls, some even dripping down off of Aaron’s face after a stray arc got him, by the time Zack stopped moving… stopped breathing… Neil pulled his glove encased hand out of the corpse’s abdomen. “This is your fault,” he hissed one last time. Aaron looked like he had clocked out from the torture session almost a full hour ago. He patted the boy’s cheek and slowly pulled off the tape to free his presumably aching jaw. “I want a full clean up. Call in the other guys so it can be done completely. Make sure to use the lights to double check. This didn’t happen.”

“Understood Sir.”

“Alright, come on you.” Neil was almost gentle as he grabbed a coat from Zack’s closet and bundled Aaron up in it and led him out to the car. The whole way he cooed to the troubled boy, giving him plenty of space in the back seat for him to lay down, even offering up his lap to the other boy. “Drive us home.” While he was sure Aaron had no fight in him, he didn’t want to take any chances. While he remained dazed and complacent, Neil produced a syringe and administered it into the crook of Aaron’s elbow.


	6. Chapter 6

Any memories that Aaron had of the ride back were short and hazy. Just about each of them had one thing in common. Neil. At all times he could hear him, feel him or even see him. It would go from having his hands in his hair, stroking him much like a pet would, to holding him up so he could eagerly drink the water he was being offered. It was all so… gentle, he had a hard time believing that it was real, especially since he ended up back in the basement. While they were gone it had been scrubbed clean. The smell of disinfectant burned his nose and caused a headache. Instead of being tied down with rope, he now had leather cuffs circling his wrists, the points where they come together sported small locks. It would be a lot harder to tear through the leather to try and get himself free even if he were able to bring his hands down near his mouth. 

Over the course of the next couple days every now and again someone would come down and feed him small bites of food. Typically it already came all cut up into bite sized pieces. Aaron had a feeling they were trying to keep as many weapons and chances to escape away from him as possible. If his stomach and level of hunger was any indicator, then the meals came at varying intervals. There was once, when his bladder was filled almost to the point of bursting and hunger clawed at his stomach making him whimper that he thought he had finally been forgotten… left to rot in the room beneath Neil’s house. But, if that had been the case it made no sense for how they treated him when they were downstairs. Always their hands were gentle, making sure he didn’t get hurt anymore when being moved back and forth from the small bathroom. Hell, they even treated his hand and made sure to clean it! With how he had been treated up until this point, the former assassin was rather confused. There was no explanation for what was happening to him. Was Neil still trying to figure out what he wanted to do with him?

It could have been days… it could have been weeks. Aaron wasn’t sure when it was he had last seen Neil. It was because of this interval that it surprised him to finally see a familiar face in the basement to bring him his food. “It’s been a busy couple of weeks at the university,” he explained to the exhausted male. Unlike the other men who had come with his meals, Neil actually sat down on the floor in front of him so their eyes were leveled. “How would you like to go to work with me?”

The moment Aaron heard ‘go’, he was already nodding his head. Anything to get up and move more than to use the toilet. Neil chuckled and slowly fed his captive, his fingers lingering near the boy’s mouth and caressing his lips before depositing each morsel. “You’ll get to see my side job.” While Aaron chewed, he ran his fingers through the dirty blond hair. “Hmmm… You’ll definitely need a shower first.” Deciding to be kind for once, he didn’t comment on the excitement that shone on the boy’s face for such a simple gesture. 

“Don’t mention it. Do you have to use the bathroom?” Neil straightened up, picking up the now empty plate. When Aaron shook his head he smiled down at him. “Good. Someone will be down later to help you get ready.” With the news of finally getting to bathe after so long, Aaron almost didn’t mind the deafening silence of the basement. The entire time his eyes remained trained to the stairs, waiting to see just who would be coming down them. His body deflated only slightly though when he found that it wouldn’t be Neil coming to help him out more. 

 

There wasn’t much more to complain about though. The goon led him upstairs and to the bathroom near the back of the house. Finally! He felt like a person! With the hot water pounding on his back and the suds from the shampoo playing around his feet he couldn’t help but laugh. It was an honest to god shower! He even got his arms unclipped so he could lazily scrub at himself! The leather cuffs stayed on his wrists, and there was a man sitting on the toilet with a gun the whole time… but it was the best feeling he had received in what felt like ages. When they finally forced him out of the water he was dried off and put into some jeans and a hoodie with his hands clipped back together in the front pocket. From the outside he probably looked just like a regular person, no hint of what had been going on. With how everything had been going on, Aaron felt rather okay about this. How would he have been able to explain that he had been captured by his mark and witnessed the death of two friends and had yet to do anything about it?

“The car’s ready, bring him out.” Thanks to his escape previously, Neil certainly wasn’t taking any chances with him now. Despite how odd it might have looked, two men flanked the assassin as they guided him into the back seat of the car. Once again Neil sat in the back with him and directed him to lay down across the seats. Aaron could only guess that it was so he wouldn’t be seen by anyone driving by. Neil’s hand dropped down into the boy’s hair, glad to feel that it was soft and clean again.

Never before would Aaron have thought that the interior of a car would feel like heaven. After being forced to sleep and eat upright against a pole, even the stone ground in the basement would have been a godsend. Rather quickly he decided that he was glad he had been forced to lay down because it meant he didn’t have to seem weak for requesting it. Since his head had been directed to lay on Neil’s lap anyways, he utilized it as a pillow and managed to get sleep. Once he drifted off, he was out hard. 

As soon as Aaron’s breathing evened off, Neil knew the medication that had been in the food must have hit him. He pulled out his phone and started making the necessary calls so they would know he would be coming in today to move some stock. When he was asked by a couple of clients if he had managed to procure that treat he had been talking so much about, he would peer down at Aaron with a grin. ‘For the right price’. 

When the car rolled to a stop Neil had to gently shake Aaron awake. The boy jerked upwards into a sitting position, almost rolling off of the seat. “Shhh, it’s okay. Nothing’s happening.” Must have been some rough dreams if the assassin was that shaken. The line of Aaron’s shoulders eased at the sound of Neil’s voice and he managed to connect the dots as to where he was… Even though it wasn’t much of an improvement from his nightmare. “Make sure to be easy with him.” Neil slipped from the car and watched his men coax Aaron from the car and help him on his feet. “It’s bring your pet to work day. I’m really glad you decided to join me today Aaron. But… You’re missing something.” With a grin, he snapped his fingers to have a leash and clunky collar handed to him. There was no way in hell he was going to just let some random person see the boy without knowing just who he belonged to. Already he had put so much work into cracking him. Aaron was his. 

“Make sure not to talk too much. Pets are seen, not heard.” Aaron was informed as the collar was tightened around his neck. The thick piece was pressed right against the front of his neck. After fiddling with some dials, he patted Aaron’s shoulder. “Make me proud.” Without being told, he knew exactly what had just been placed on him. Aaron’s silence didn’t seem to convince Neil that he understood just what kind of position he was in. “Even if you think you can handle a bit of a… buzz, I wouldn’t push your luck. It’s been modified and frankly it was designed for someone a bit larger than you. Don’t make me regret bringing you.”

Just as Neil turned to enter the nondescript concrete building, his assistant came pacing out. “We already have a couple clients waiting to greet you and be shown the stock we have this time.”

Aaron’s brows furrowed. This voice was familiar. Where had he heard it from? He had certainly never met this other male before. A chill shot through him when his eyes met with the assistant and received a harsh smirk. “Alright, thank you Drake. I’ll be in there in just a moment. Going to send him to get ready and I’ll be there. Make sure everyone has refreshments and they are happy. People spend more when they are happy which is good for me since we didn’t get as big of a shipment this month.” He started to move forward but paused when the leash became taut. 

“Focus Aaron.” Neil gave the leash a tiny tug to get his sights turned forward. “We’re walking now.” As long as he kept just behind Neil’s heel, Aaron didn’t have to feel the tug on his collar. At first, it was just a building. A normal abandoned building. At least that was until they descended some stairs. Lined up on either side of long hallway the walls were glass, showing the insides of what looked like bedrooms. In some of these rooms there were already people. The forms tired and ragged. While the people looked physically clean, there was just an exhaustion that Aaron could almost feel intimately after spending so long in that basement. 

Before they got too far into the building Neil spoke up again. “Prepare him for the auction, I’ll be there in a little bit.” Neil waved a hand and a sack was placed back over Aaron’s head to keep him from knowing too much about the location. Had the collar not been placed around his neck, he would have spoken out. God only knows how high it might have been set for the first zap. Being blinded by the sack did nothing to improve the former assassin’s balance. The fingers on his upper arm dug into his flesh, causing just as much pain as it did support to ensure he didn’t fall. Down some stairs. Through a couple turns in a hallway. Left. Right. Right. Left. A light beeping was heard that sounded like a keypad. Two high tones, a low tone and the buzzer. It was only when the door was latched again when the hood removed from his head. 

The young assassin’s mouth opened to ask what he was doing here but the man who had led him there smirked and tapped his own neck to remind Aaron of the shock collar. “Get him a number. Boss wants him for the more… tame clients so make sure he’s near the back.” Whoever the man was, he seemed to know what was going on. In the small room he was forced to wait in, he could hear an announcer speaking, only catching tones now and again. 

“You’re up now boy.” Neil came strolling into the room, fixing a tie to sharpen up a suit he hadn’t been wearing earlier. “Remember to behave and look pretty. It might do you some good for once.” A sound almost like a growl erupted from Aaron’s throat, the pitch just enough for the collar to register it. Before even his legs could give out from the current, Neil was there to catch him, and hold him upright until the shock passed through his system. Aaron jerked and struggled in Neil’s arms until his muscles started to relax. His mouth went from locked tight to gasping for breath to replace what oxygen he couldn’t obtain as the collar ran its course. “Shhh…” He cooed, stroking the boy’s cheek. “I can’t rent out damaged goods.” Their eyes locked for a moment. One filled with fearful desperation, the other with a superior smugness. 

Since Aaron was already in his arms, Neil took over the job of getting him back onto his feet and leading him to the door. “I hope you’re starting to realize what I do for a living.” With his arm draped over the assassin it seemed almost like they were friends having a pleasant chat. Remembering that the boy shouldn’t be speaking, he placed a single digit on his fingers. “Save that voice of yours for a little later. I’m sure you’ll need it. You’re going to stand with me as I sell some bodies. When it’s your turn...” he paused and peered at the number on Aaron’s sleeve, “I will present you and someone else will take you off to have you prepared for whoever wins you. Understand?” The assassin mutely nodded. 

A door opened up further down the hall and the voice he has been hearing earlier was finally clear. “And now, Neil would like to personally announce our latest arrival.” Aaron found himself practically blinded as he was let go to stand awkwardly in a bright pool of light. Neil continued forward and stood in a rather confident stance with his hands clasped behind his back. 

“Thank you everyone who managed to make it today, and even to those who couldn’t make it in person.” Neil nodded his head slightly as an applause rang out for him once again. “Our boy here is a new personal addition. I had intended to take some time to fully train him but, thanks to some enthusiasm by you buyers I’ve decided to put his services out there for a week. ”

“Servi-” Just as he started to question the statements made, Aaron’s collar went off again, forcing him down to the ground with his finger clawing at the device at his throat. Neil’s face darkened as he looked down at the felled male even as laughter and pleased hoots rose up from the crowd of wealthy buyers. 

“He is a very fresh acquire.” Neil crouched down to yank the number off Aaron’s shirt and pocketed it. “I had planned to set him in further down the line but it seems he’s truly quite eager to please the lot of you! We’ll start the bidding now so hopefully the suspense doesn’t kill the poor boy.” His eyes turned down in a dispassionate glare. “Someone stand him up,” he snapped away from the microphone. “We’ll start the bidding for the first slot of the night and after the festivities I’ll have a schedule down and hopefully you guys can do me the favor and help train the unfortunate boy. All I ask is you go easy on him.” Something in his tone hinted that he didn’t really want the people present to do anything gentle to him. And from how the laughter drew out in force, those attending didn’t believe him either. 

Aaron was hoisted back onto his feet, his top stripped off of him so he stood in the blinding light in just his pants. “Just look at him, in great physical shape!” Towards the back of the room Aaron spotted red led numbers that were rapidly increasing. “Who wants to be the first to spend a couple hours breaking him in?” Neil’s gaze seemed to be fixed on those numbers too and each time it hit a milestone he would shout it out, cementing Aaron’s assumption that it was how high the price had raised. When at last the numbers stilled, he couldn’t even believe the number. It was a number that he never thought he would see in his life. It took the remainder of the weight on his throat to keep him from exclaiming. 

“And we have a winning bid for our newbie’s first time with us!” There was a fair amount of dejected applause, especially from those who had been outbid. “You know the drill. Check with my assistant when we are finished here and we will go over the details.” Neil raised an arm and shooed Aaron away, so upset with the boy he didn’t even want to see him. Taking the cue, his helpers restrained Aaron’s arms enough to keep him from struggling and escorted him off the stage. 

The walk was done in silence. Any questions he may have had were caught in his throat and the men on either side of him didn’t seem all that inclined to be the first to speak. They didn’t even bother with covering his face this time as they deposited him in what looked like a bedroom, one full wall a floor to ceiling mirror. The layout of the bedroom itself was familiar. Bed, nightstand and a wardrobe and not much else. He had seen motel rooms with more furnishing that this.

“If I were you, the smart thing to do would be to stop pissing off Mr. Neil.” One of the men who was binding his wrists to the headboard stopped and stared down at him. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that… You’re really not going to like who paid for you.” 

“Wha-” Once again the drive to question was stronger that his memory. Aaron’s body twisted and spasmed on the bed. The two men waited patiently for his body to melt back onto the mattress so they could make sure he was properly secured. All he wanted to know was what the man was like. That was it! Harsh tears of frustration prickled at his eyes as he fought to keep them down. After the two men left he was alone again. Aaron’s eyes kept turning over to the mirror, knowing that just on the other side of it was a hallway for people to look in on him. To keep the mirror functioning the way it should, the brightness of the lights in his room were at an almost aggravating level. He buried his face against his arm and waited, knowing someone would come for him sooner or later.


	7. Chapter 7

At some point he must have dozed off because the sound of the door shutting jolted him awake. Aaron warily watched as Neil stalked forward from the door, a hand coming up to loosen the tie from his neck. “You were the highest priced item tonight,” Neil informed him as he settled down on the corner of the bed, staring the assassin down. “It’s kind of rare for me to have a blond haired, green eyed, white boy for sale… even if it’s for designated time slots.” 

All the restrained male could do was grind his teeth and glower at the dark haired man. “You got a little lucky. The first guy who has your time actually wants to hear you.” Aaron flinched when Neil reached out, only stilling when his fingers worked to undo the painful collar. Those same fingers lightly stroked the sensitive and irritated skin bringing up soft little whimpers of discomfort. “You know, Aaron… None of this money means anything to me. If you say you’ll serve me and do everything I say, right now… I’ll take those shackles off and we can leave together. I’ll just refund all of those people.” The look Neil was giving him seemed almost tender, and it matched well with the soft rubbings that had started to ease down his sternum.

The offer sounded tempting but his dignity and his life were the only things he could fight for right now. “You take me home with you then you better hope you sleep with one eye open because the moment I get the chance, I’m going to kill you.” Aaron’s voice was a harsh snarl which did nothing to impress Neil. He simply arched a brow, looking disinterested. 

“Then I hope you have fun this week. I can’t say what kind of experiences you will have but just know you’re going to be begging for two things. Either me to save you, or death. And we already covered what I won’t grant with your begging.” The shady professor pulled back away from the assassin and headed back to the door. “See you soon Aaron.”

“Go to fucking hell!” He screamed as the door started to shut. 

“He’s all yours Jasper.” Was the last thing Aaron heard. And then… he was alone. It seemed like most of his time was going to be spent alone. Good. Just as he was about to turn his attention to the restraints on his wrists, the door opened again. “Can I help you?” He growled at the sharply dressed businessmen who had come into his room. 

“For the price I paid for you I certainly hope so.” Jasper’s voice was deep and his eyes calculating as he started to pull off his jacket. “Hmm. It seems you are as good looking as you seemed on stage. That’s good, would hate to have to try and get a refund.” The man stepped out of his shoes and pushed his dark brown hair out of his face. 

“You’re not getting anything from me.” This was only a single man. A single, unarmed man. He could get through this and maybe even escape. If he was in one of the mirrored rooms then he couldn’t possibly be too far from the exit. 

“Well, you’re certainly not going anywhere anytime soon.” With a grin, the man hopped up on the bed, straddling Aaron’s hips to stare down at him. Since his legs weren’t restrained, Aaron used the headboard as a hard point to leverage himself up as he thrashed, working to buck the man off his body. After some struggling on both ends, Aaron managed to twist, his arms crossing above his head and the man being dumped off the side of the bed. Despite how his much he had been punished for his actions already, the assassin couldn’t help but find the downed red faced man snarling up at him from the floor rather amusing. 

“You’re not getting anything from me.”

Growing annoyed with Aaron’s obvious incompetence he pulled out a gun from a holster underneath his shirt, pleased with how quickly Aaron seemed to react to it, twisting back around and struggling in the leather cuffs that held him. “What? You’re not scared of me, but you’re scared of the gun?”

“F-fuck off!” He stammered, peddling his legs to push himself higher on the bed and away from the man sitting at the foot. 

With a hardened glare Jasper got up, bringing the side of the gun against the side of Aaron’s face. A choked gasp barely made it past the sound of the metal hitting his flesh. The client watched, seeming as removed from the situation as possible as the assassin’s tongue darted out to lick the broken skin on his lip. “I suggest you start learning some fucking manners! I’ve purchased your time for a steep price. I can do whatever I want with you.” The client’s annoyance peaked when the boy’s mouth opened as if to protest more. Knowing there was a better use for that mouth he shoved the barrel of his gun in instead, the metal clicking against Aaron’s teeth. Instantly his eyes got wide and he tried to jerk his head back to get off the gun. 

“Oh no you don’t!” He growled, shoving the gun in just a little deeper and bringing his other hand up to hold the back of Aaron’s head. “Don’t you dare fucking move…. I want you to start sucking.” The helplessness in those green eyes made his cock twitch in his pants. Now this is what he paid for! “That’s right,” he murmured as he noticed Aaron’s cheeks start to hollow. “Let me help you,” almost gently he thrusted in, making sure it rubbed firmly on the boy’s tongue. If he had any say in the matter he was going to ensure all he could taste for weeks was the bitter metal and harsh gunpowder. 

“You know what?” The gun stilled. “I don’t think you’re being as enthusiastic with this as I want you to be.” To encourage him, Jasper’s thumb came up and pulled back the hammer. Aaron jumped, feeling the jolt as the mechanisms prepped for firing. The client let his finger slide down to rest on the trigger. “Start working it like you would a cock, whore.” Hatred burned deep in his eyes as they made contact with the client, his ‘sucking’ increasing in vigor without jostling the gun too much. “There we go. Moan for me. Show me just how much sucking this gun off is getting you off.” A growl instead bubbled up. Jasper sucked his teeth and yanked the gun from Aaron’s mouth, placing it hard against his temple. 

Their eyes met and for a good long moment they stared eachother down until the client brought the gun down against the side of Aaron’s face again. “Maybe this is my fault.” The client was breathing a little heavily as he watched Aaron spit out of a mouthful of blood from a cut in his cheek. “I didn’t set down the ground rules. You’re new, you don’t know any better.” He worked to unbutton his shirt and remove it completely, exposing the crossing straps of his gun holster. “You are going to call me Sir. You will listen to my commands,” he continued pulling off what was covering his chest, “and you will treat me with respect.”

“Fuck. You.” Aaron rasped. 

Jasper’s eyes narrowed. “I wonder if Mr. Neil is watching you right now.” A hint of trepidation flashed over Aaron’s face as his eyes flicked to the mirror. “You’re not the first person he has acquired just to break them in. And let me tell you a secret, eventually all them start serving him willingly anyways. You get much more out of the deal that way anyways.” With Aaron about as docile as he had seen him, Jasper got to work yanking the assassin’s pants down and off his ankles. Being stripped completely bare seemed to reduce his confidence in the situation. Jasper straddled Aaron’s hips again and reached up to prod Aaron’s wrapped hand. “It seems like you may already have a reason to fear Neil. Why provoke him to hurt you even further?” 

“You are hurting me,” Aaron rolled his hips to try and get the pressure off of them. “How can you act like you have the solution to my problems when right now you are my problem?!” 

“Because I don’t have to be.” In a move that was uncharacteristic, Jasper brushed his hand down Aaron’s bruised cheek and leaned in for a deep probing kiss. At first, Aaron was stiff, unyielding but slowly he softened up, confused by the change in the man. 

“So… what? You paid all that money, just for a couple hours of sex with me?! That’s stupid,” Aaron murmured as soon as they pulled away from each other for a bit. 

“There’s a lot of things I can do to you that I can’t do to people outside these walls,” Jasper’s fingers pressed hard against Aaron’s cheekbone where the skin was split and bruising. He held steady even as the body beneath him thrashed and struggled to remove the pressure. “I could see you on that stage. You have fight in you. I know you’re not going to submit to me and that’s what I paid for.”

Shit. Now he was trapped. If he gave in, the man would be disappointed in his purchase and he would be forced to do whatever the man wanted… But if he fought to keep his dignity, then he would be playing right into the man’s hands. The emotions that spanned over Aaron’s face seemed to be easily recognizable because the client laughed. “Oh yes, quite the situation you’re in, isn’t it?” Once more the gun was brought up and Jasper’s eyes were glued to the tip of it as he gently trailed it down Aaron’s stiff features. “I will tell you now, it’s so much easier to just submit.” Even his tone was uncharacteristically soft. As if plying Aaron to ease the tension in his body. “Everything will be so much better if you do.”

Since the start of the morning, everything had been going almost too fast for Aaron to properly process. Now that this man in front of him was almost encouraging him to calm, it was easier to see what he had to do. His brows lowered and his eyes squinted as he face contorted into a glare. “Fuck. You.” With the cut in his cheek, it was easy to gather enough spit, and blood, in his mouth to spit directly into the face in front of him. 

“You’re really going to wish you hadn’t done that,” Jasper snarled as he wiped away the thick spit on his face. Without giving Aaron much time to adjust, he hiked one of the assassin’s legs up and pressed the tip of the gun against his ass. “For your sake, I hope you stop struggling. Otherwise it might just go off.” 

“Y-you wouldn’t!” It wouldn’t make sense! Neil wouldn’t let the man kill him, would he?” 

Jasper seemed to have read his mind because he pressed the gun forward a little harder. “I have enough money to buy your ass right now. Neil wouldn’t give two shits about what I do to you.” He pulled back a little before pressing in hard enough to pull a sharp whine from the assassin. “Just relax,” the man’s grin was cruel as he finally felt the gun start its slide into Aaron’s body.

With the man literally fucking him with the business end of his gun, Aaron had no other option but to lay his head back and grit his teeth. Even despite his best efforts, desperate and pained noises bubbled up which only seemed to egg on his attacker more. 

“I want to hear you beg me to stop.” Already the man above him was panting obscenely, gathering pleasure just from watching the way Aaron’s body jerked each time he felt the trigger guard. Suddenly the gun stilled, the guard pressing firmly against his hole and the length of the gun as deep into him as possible. 

“You’re not going to get that from me,” the former assassin hissed, upset with himself that he couldn’t get his voice to sound stronger. Jasper’s eyes narrowed down and Aaron met his gaze as he felt a finger slide against his skin to rest against the trigger. 

“I will pull this right now.” The client’s voice was calm despite the frustration and aggression he had displayed earlier. 

Aaron defiantly met his gaze, figuring that if he followed through with his words then at least this nightmare would be over. “Do it. Fucking do it.” 

With a slight grit to his teeth, Jasper pulled back the trigger. An almost deafening noise reached Aaron’s ears and it took him a long moment to realize he was still alive and the sound had been his own harsh yelp at the way the gun jumped inside of him. Aaron’s eyes were wide as he jerked his head back to look at the man, both shocked and relieved. “You should have seen your face,” he snickered, giving the gun a few more good pumps to jolt the look off Aaron’s face before pulling out and tossing it to the side. “Do you think Neil really would have let me anywhere near him with a loaded gun?”

Instantly he felt foolish, his whole face burning almost as much as his ass as he watched Jasper pull himself out of his pants. “I almost wish I had already been inside you when you did that.” He climbed fully onto the bed and angled himself down so he could force himself into the assassin’s body. “I’m sure you would have been even tighter,” His voice was strained, as if watching the display of Aaron fucked out and wrecked on his gun had pushed him almost to his limit. With the man being considerably thicker than the gun barrel, Aaron found he had a much harder time keeping back the noises of discomfort. The more he whimpered and struggled, the harder Neil pushed, until finally his ass was slicked with the client’s cum. 

“I hope you learn your lesson quick about fighting the clients,” he chuckled, moving to the head of the bed to wipe his dick against Aaron’s cheek, dodging a weak attempted bite. “The more you fight and struggle, the more people are going to enjoy you. Who knows, Neil might find you’re worth more to him on your back than anywhere else.” Jasper finally tucked himself up and tossed a towel over Aaron’s face before knocking a short code into the heavy door. While the assassin was struggling to get the cloth off his head, Jasper left. Despite being alone, Aaron did not feel safe. It could have been the rough actions of the client but a burning feeling of fear was finally growing in his gut. 

What if he actually was left here forever?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated doing more before posting this but I needed a little boost of motivation and accomplishment to keep going.

The room was silent after Jasper left. His arms were still bound over his head, keeping him from fleeing very far on his own. After a bit of wrestling with the restraints Aaron let his arms relax, his eyes gazing out at the far wall. Was this really going to be his reality? His face hurt, his body ached and the burn of where he had been penetrated was slowly starting to tame. Just when he thought he was going to be alone, the door opened up. A rather tall man strode in with a clipboard in hand. Behind him, a cart was being pushed in by someone much more subdued in nature. 

“Hmmm… It seems you didn’t quite make your last client all that happy.” The man set the clipboard away and looked over Aaron’s body. “At least he didn’t seem to be too rough.”

Aaron made an indignant sound. “Too rough?! Do you realize what he did?!”

“You’re lucky it’s not worse with a mouth like that on you.” That seemed to shut the assassin up rather quickly. “Now… It doesn’t seem to have been explained to you how you eat around here.” The man took Aaron’s silence as affirmation and continued right along as he grabbed a funnel with a thick tube. “You are at the mercy of your clients. The most we will pay for to keep you alive is this.” He jiggled the tube. “Your clients determine how well you eat. If they don’t like how you acted, then they aren’t going to pay extra to make sure you get a good meal.”

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Going to force you to shut up. This will go a lot easier if you just relax. The man climbed up on the bed and straddled Aaron’s chest. “Tilt your head back. It’ll go easier that way.” Aaron growled weakly but slowly followed instructions. “Good job. Just relax.” He slowly stroked Aaron’s neck before feeding the tip of the tube into the assassin’s mouth. Over and over he murmured for Aaron to relax as he guided the tube down. 

When it hit the back of his throat, Aaron’s whole body wrenched forward, he was gagging, trying to force the tube out of his mouth so he could breathe and swallow the spit that had collected in his mouth. His whole body tried to arch off the bed as if he could pull his body free from the restraints. As if it would help free him, his eyes were wide and watery from trying to hold back from puking as he watched the other man, hoping that he would feel a little bit of empathy and remorse so as to help him. 

Even as Aaron’s body jerked and struggled the further back the tube went, the more the man pushed. “Just breathe, nice and slow. Breathe through your nose. You know, with tears in your eyes like that and your mouth open wide, I can see the attraction you might have.” By the time the tube was fully inserted, the man had seen Aaron go through the scope of emotions one might expect from this kind of violation. Now the assassin seemed to settle on his eyes fluttering back as he struggled just to get enough oxygen into his system. The man snapped his fingers and pointed at the off colored food on the cart.

“Remember, this is meal you earned with your behavior.”

Aaron made a sound almost like a whine as the food started travelling down the tube. It was cold which in general felt off but the way it soothed his irritated throat, was almost welcomed. Slowly his stomach filled, a noise of discomfort slipping around the tube near the end as he was almost filled too full.

“This is better if I do it fast…” The man murmured, stroking the side of Aaron’s cheek. Once he was sure all of the food was out of the tube, he got a good hold of it and pulled it out in a smooth movement. Instantly Aaron’s body tried to surge off the bed, preparing to hack up everything that had been deposited into his stomach. Before anything could go too far though, a heavy hand clapped over his mouth. “Don’t you dare! If you puke any of that up, I will personally hold you against the bed and make you eat it again.” Sweat beaded on Aaron’s forehead as he struggled with his body’s desire to respond to what the tube had done. However, anything at this point would be better than having to lick up puke.

The jerking and attempts to heave slowly died down. Each desperate breath making Aaron’s nostrils flare and his chest ache. “There you go. I’m so proud of you.” If it weren’t for the situation they were in, the assassin could almost be fooled that the nameless man above him actually gave a damn. “Stay here,” he murmured as if Aaron actually had a choice. “Someone will collect you for a bit of training soon.” To make sure the assassin actually listened, he checked the restraints and buckled the shock collar around his neck. 

The only thing that made him pause turning it on, was the rasped growl from Aaron. “I’m going to kill you, and everyone here.” The man hummed thoughtfully and clicked the switch on. 

“I wish I could tell you how many times I’ve heard that from people in your position.” He smiled and put everything on his cart to be wheeled away. Very carefully he looked over the damage done by Jasper. He ran his fingers across the assassin’s cheekbones before trailing down his body. “He was a bit rough, but not the worst we’ve seen…” he mumbled to himself, finally ending on Aaron’s ass. “You’re lucky it’s not that bad.” His eyes flicked up to catch the assassin giving him an unimpressed look. “Trust me. It could be a lot worse than this. So far you’ve been pretty lucky.” 

“Try to rest. You’ll need it.” The man who fed the assassin bundled up the cart and left the room. Loneliness seemed to be their most effective tool in breaking people. Aaron’s head flopped back against the pillows as he stared mindlessly at the ceiling. It was different here than it had been in Neil’s basement. He had a bed to lay on here, but at least he could talk to himself in the basement and chase away the quiet to some degree.


	9. Chapter 9

After all that, Aaron wasn’t left alone for long despite the advice given to him to rest. A group of people entered and seemed to circle around his bed. “Get him up.” With the experience he had with the feeding tube, Aaron allowed them to move him, glaring pointedly at the man giving the orders. Just how many people did Neil have under his employment? Seeing the way the assassin was looking at him made the man smirked. “Leave the collar on though. He looks like he may need some additional adjustment.”

Already it seemed like whoever was in charge of wardrobe was some kind of kinky bastard. Heavy leather straps were attached across his front and down his back, leaving a firm weight on his shoulders. The man who seemed to be directing the workers stepped up to stare directly down at Aaron. Even though the collar kept him from speaking, the assassin’s face spoke volumes to how enraged he truly was. “You are really going to push us as far as you can, aren't you?” It was surprising to see someone with this much energy after a day or two in their care. “You're not the first person we've broken. Neil has been doing this for years. I've never seen one of you fuckers ‘win’. All of you break eventually.” He grabbed the harness and all but dragged Aaron out of the bedroom.

Sitting in the middle of the hallway was an empty cart. It was like a smaller version of one that would typically be attached to a horse. All of a sudden the harness that had been placed on him made sense. Aaron planted his feet and dug his heels in. Even though he couldn't protest verbally, his actions made it very clear what he thought about this plan. 

“Sir, he's not moving…” one of the countless ‘hands’ that had been manipulating Aaron finally spoke up. The one who was obviously in charge, turned and scowled. 

“That is hooked up to more than just a verbal cue.” The man tapped his neck to indicate the shock collar. His free hand pulled a rounded button from his pocket and rubbed his thumb threateningly over the smooth top. Almost instantly Aaron was dropping to his hands and knees to settle down in front of the cart. At this point he would do anything to make sure he didn't get shocked again. “That's what I thought. We have work to get done and since you're new, you're the cart.” Much to Aaron’s dismay, a horse’s bit was pressed between his teeth,forcing his tongue down. A piece was fit over his head to provide blinders on either side of his face. It seemed that they were well and truly trussing him up like a work pony.

Once he was fully strapped in, and any movement forward was met with the resistance of the cart, everyone disappeared with the exception of the man in charge. “There is work to be done. All you need to worry about is follow directly behind me and stay when you're told. Nod if you understand.” Aaron’s teeth bore into the plastic in his mouth. Already there was spit collecting along the corners of his lips. “Well?” again, the button was brandished, motivating the captive assassin to jerkily nod his head. “Good. Follow me.”

At first it was easy. Dragging along the empty cart took almost no extra effort than crawling around did. If he had the ability to complain he would have only done so because of his knees. Because of the blinders, Aaron had a hard time being able to see or focus on anything outside of the man’s well cared for shoes. Doors in front of them were shoved open and the captive male had to shudder to a halt. Honest to god sunshine was warming his face even before he passed the threshold to the outside. His eyes fell shut and he turned his face upwards to catch as much of the sun as he possibly could. 

“I don't think I gave you any orders to stop.” Aaron hurried forward so he could fall in line behind the person barking orders. Being outside was a whole different beast. The ground was rough and uneven, and the graveled ground dug into his knees and palms. Aaron make a slight noise of discomfort as he was forced to maintain the same pace he had been keeping inside. 

The assassin’s field of vision was severely limited. He could catch the sight of legs and boots and could hear what sounded like shovels and picks striking rock and dirt. To top it off, the more energy he was expending on avoiding sharp terrain and pulling the cart, the more His vision seemed to narrow. All of his attention was simply on keeping his forward momentum.

“Stop.” 

Aaron was very grateful for the command. He took the opportunity to rest on his elbows and get some of the weight off his wrists and arms. Behind him it sounded like rocks were being poured onto his cart. The smaller pieces were bouncing off each other and striking his legs and back with tiny stings. It wasn't enough to have him complain, especially considering what all he had been through thus far.

“Forward.”

Easy enough, he thought. The weight of the cart had increased drastically from their stop. He had to rear up a little and get his body to press against the restraints and get the wheels moving. Once he got them moving, it got a bit easier. 

After a couple of stops his cart had to have weigh twice as much as he did. Aaron’s breath was coming out harsh around the plastic in his mouth and spit was sliding down his chin. Almost every move forward required him to put his entire weight behind it. His hands and under his nails were abraded and bleeding from scraping against the rough ground and he could only assume that his knees looked similarly rough. 

“His cart is full. Let's get him inside.” For Aaron there was no concept of others existing outside of the shoes he had been following and his own exertions. Decisions were made above him and were trickled down to the voice he had grown familiar to hearing the short single word commands from. Hearing that he would get a chance to go back inside to the smooth floors he almost sobbed. If his face hadn't been dripping with sweat and spit, he would have been able to tell if he were actually crying or not from the sheer relief. 

A new energy was instilled in Aaron to get back inside. Despite the pain and uneven terrain, he found himself keeping pace with the man who had been directing him. Once he got the momentum set, it was easier to keep the cart moving. The young male had never been happier to be inside of a building than the moment he reached the threshold and the cart’s wheels had a lot less resistance. He made a hollering sound of triumph, having forgotten about the collar once again. 

The shoes in front of him stopped and angled in his direction as his body spasmed against the ground.

“You poor stupid mother fucker. If you weren't such an ass, you wouldn't even have to worry about that any more, you know that, right?” He kneeled down and placed a hand on Aaron’s sweaty shoulder as soon as the jerking stopped. “Do you want me to take it off?” He hadn't even finished the sentence before Aaron was vigorously nodding his head. “You aren't going to mouth off anymore?” 

Tears of defeat and frustration finally tracked down Aaron’s face as he shook his head. At this point he just wanted to stop hurting. The degradation was something he could handle. The constant fear of potentially being shocked was something he never thought would be a part of his life. 

“Don't make me regret this.” Firm hands pressed into the buckle to remove it. He even went one step forward and removed the spit and filth covered bit from the spot it had been anchored behind Aaron’s teeth. 

“Thank you….” It felt like it had already been a lifetime since he last heard his own voice even though it had been a day at most.

“You're welcome…” The other man ruffled his sweaty and damp hair. “Let's get to your room. You still have a lot to do.” 

With a dejected groan the assassin pushed himself back up. All excitement of being back in the building has seeped out of his bones and now all he could feel was the exhaustion. He seemed to end up almost in a fugue state as his eyes stuck to the polished heels of the man’s shoes, completely missing the verbal order to stop and almost running into him. 

“Unbuckle him completely. He needs to get cleaned up for the next client.” Aaron hadn't noticed it before, but there were a couple of people around him. Their hands were soft and almost soothing as the weight of the rock and dirt laden cart was removed from his shoulders. He leaned in against one of the firm bodies when he was forced upright, and let them lead him back into the room and flat against his bed. 

“Restrain his arms… I don't think he's going to be a problem for awhile.” The words floating around him felt so detached from his current situation. Even as the man supervising the grunt workers left the room, Aaron didn't raise a single finger in protest. Warm wet washcloths were rubbed against his skin. All of the sweat and dirt from his labors were rubbed off, the motions of their hands pulling him almost to sleep as they soothed his sore and aching muscles. “Drink a little bit of water.” He didn’t have to be told twice. Aaron greedily drank from the water bottle that was pressed to his lips. 

At some point he just have fallen asleep, because when his eyes opened, there was the contorted face of a much older man above him. It took much longer than Aaron cared to admit to realize what was happening to his body. A soft groan bubbled up. He honestly had no idea if the noise was because he was liking the way the man’s hips were grinding against his, or if he was feeling discomfort from it. The assassin’s eyebrows pulled into look of confusion when the man stopped and started cooing at him. 

“Hush now, go back to sleep. There’s nothing bad that’s going to happen to you now. I’ll make sure to keep you safe.” A sharp retort wanted to roll right off his tongue but he remembered his experience with the feeding tube. “There you go little one. Right off to dreamland with you.” The almost soothing way he was being thrust into, combined with all of the hard work he had done that day, made it surprisingly easy to follow those orders and just shut his eyes back up. The client picked up a more firm pace as soon as Aaron’s eyes were shut. He wasn’t able to fall back asleep now that he knew what was going on, but it didn’t seem to make much difference for the client. Before he really knew it, the client was finished and wiping off his cum on the assassin’s stomach.

Aaron was able to track the sound of the client’s footsteps, flinching a little when the door slammed shut. He groaned and shifted his body to get into a more comfortable position. His body ached from the laboring earlier. At least there wasn’t any discomfort from the client, unlike the first one. There was just an unsettling feeling of the fluids slipping down the crack of his ass. Of all of the things that had been bearing down on him, it was the boredom that was threatening to drive him bonkers. The lights seemed even more harsh the longer he was stuck in the room. 

A new smell caught his interest and made his stomach claw angrily. A rich peppered smell that the assassin could only hope he was imagining correctly. His door opened shortly after. It was the same food cart that had been rolled into his room before, but it smelled so much better. “Your client was quite pleased this time.” The person who brought the food to him wasn’t a low grade grunt, it was the man who seemed to have been Neil’s assistant. “He ordered you something quite special. If I let your arms free, are you going to be a problem?”

“No Sir.” With the temptation of some real food, he was the most compliant he had ever been since he had been brought to the building. Drake removed the restraints but left them still attached to the bed. While Aaron sat up and rubbed some feeling into his wrists, Drake pulled a plate out from the cart and set it where the captive male could reach. “Steak! Is that actually steak?!” There weren’t any utensils, but on the paper plate was a hunk of steak and what looked like mashed potatoes. 

“It is. This is the kind of luxury you can expect if you just stop fighting us.” 

“It’s not drugged or anything?” Aaron’s stomach felt like it was trying to claw its way up his throat the longer he prolonged just digging in. 

“It’s not drugged. We haven’t drugged you since you’ve been here.” Drake waited until temptation finally won and the captive tore at the meat and potatoes. “You can have free access to your space here until your next client is ready to see you.” The assistant turned and left Aaron alone in the room, locking the door behind him. 

If just letting the people fuck him meant he had at least a little bit of freedom, maybe in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t a bad way to spend his time until he could truly get free. Aaron’s mind turned as he tore chunks off his food with his teeth.


End file.
